


Cutting Losses

by MasteroftheCrypticArts



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 14:43:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17225969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MasteroftheCrypticArts/pseuds/MasteroftheCrypticArts
Summary: After his colleague and good friend gets abducted by Ebony Maw, Wong returns to the sanctum and resumes his duties as normal(ly as he can).





	Cutting Losses

If Bruce Banner thought that Wong was a jerk for his indifference to Stephen Strange's capture it was for two reasons: first, because between the two urgent matters that summoned him, the guardianship of the New York Sanctum was the one he was physically capable of answering, and second, because he was skilled at masking emotional vulnerability with stoicism. He justified himself to the nervous Banner with succinct reasoning, crossed through an Eldritch portal back to his residence, and wound it shut.

Alone in the quietude of the spacious foyer, Wong stared at the gaping pit in the wide staircase.

In one swoop, both the Time Stone and his closest companion were felled. And hauled off into the reaches of outer space, on a path bound for cataclysm on a scale "hitherto undreamt of."

Anger flared beneath his sternum before quelling as quickly as it came. Wong was no different from anyone else in a hatred of helplessness.

He rued the fact that a millennia-long tradition of the Masters of the Mystic Arts had come to a swift end. Generations of Masters swore an oath to protect the Time Stone, their most precious possession. It was handed down to them by Agamotto the All-Seeing, godhead of the Vishanti, Sorcerer Supreme, and the founding father of their school. Its use was a rarity, restricted to the ritual induction of Sorcerers Supreme and calamities of the highest caliber. Being entrusted with it was a privilege very few Masters received. It didn't surprise Wong in the least that Stephen Strange would one day possess it. It was an honor. And a tremendous burden.

He felt no proximal relief from having it lifted. Informing the other Masters that the Time Stone was lost was one of the hardest things he ever had to do.

But he kept his head high and his feelings in check.

Surrounded by fellow councilmen, he delivered the grim news with reservation and grace.

The entire atrium circling the Orb of Agamotto was mute.

Then actions were taken. The Masters liased, pooling their wealth of resources in the endeavor to reclaim the Stone. They managed to track down the Q-Ship but not even their best-tailored spells and suitable relics could foil the warding that Maw had embellished it with. When all offensive options were exhausted, the Masters surveilled, in hopes of following the Q-Ship to its destination so they could lay siege. Then Maw severed the connection, placed his spacecraft within a Faraday Cage of the most foreign, convoluted magic, and their final effort was rendered futile. The Masters reconvened in grave silence. Wong could only hold faith that Stephen was smart enough to find an escape as he hurtled on a trajectory toward some forsaken, but certain end. And hope that the oncoming semi careening for the universe would swerve and miss.

Thus began the mass-exodus of the Masters of the Mystic Arts.

Sensing impending doom, the sorcerers of Wong's school began to evacuate, taking refuge in various dimensions as temporary asylum seekers. Some, however, were adamant that they not abandon their stations. Bound by obligation, these individuals remained on Earth and sought to fulfill their duties until their dying breaths. Wong was one of them.

The first thing he did after returning to the sanctum was look up contractors online. He could have renovated the townhouse with magic but for once he wanted to have the hassle of dealing with unreliable professionals. Giving himself over to perfectionistic, persnickety antics would keep his mind occupied. He managed to find a sketchy partnership that professed availability to begin work the same day for a flat fee. While awaiting their arrival, he maintained the integrity of New York's protective sigil despite knowing it would be ineffective against the Black Order if they returned. He ate. He bathed. He meditated. He even forced himself to sit down and start Black Mirror on Netflix. "Hated in the Nation" was gruesome and visceral enough to make him forget his troubles for a good several minutes, although his appetite for pork would have to make a daunting recovery. He didn't watch any more episodes after that. He sat on the couch, staring at the TV's black screen. At his blurred reflection in the LCD.

Wong thought about the likelihood that Stephen would be killed if he wasn't dead already, and it weighed heavy on his heart. He thought about the gravity of the Infinity Stone's appropriation, what it meant for the wellbeing of the universe, and it weighed heavy on his soul.


End file.
